Assists (6/22)

From goal kick to goal

WHITTIER, CA - When was the last time a GK got an assist in the Euros?  E4-Belgium GK kicked his goal kick long past the halfway line and bounced to Kevin De Bruyne who slotted it home in the 80' for the nail in the coffin in the 2-0 win over E2-Romania.  BEL's Romelu Lukaku had another goal taken away via VAR (his 3rd), this time by inches.  BEL's win means all four teams in Group E have 3 points and leaves the possibility of a 4-way 4-point tie after next Wednesday meaning one 4-point team will not make the Round of 16 (it's the top 4 3rd place teams, not the four best teams not in the top 2).  E4-Ukraine would be the odd man out in that scenario.

F3-Portugal won Group F with a 3-0 romp over F1-Türkiye that was aided by a no-look assist from Ronaldo of all people and an assist by the TUR defense who scored into their own goal.  I do not understand why defenders pass ON GOAL because of this risk of miscommunication.  Risk the errant corner kick instead.  F4-Czechia rallied to tie F2-Georgia 1-1 to keep both teams alive.  Czechia had 26 shots and forced the GEO GK to make 9 saves on 10 shots on goal.

$3.70 per taco; used to be <$2

5 got the GEOvCZE tie, 42 got POR, and 57 got BEL.  Disabling Below Jobs and Matt's Mostly Wrong went 3-0 with the former now tied with 21goals for first place with 17 points.  Rainman went 0-3 to fall from a tie for 27th to a tie for 50th (11 pts).  BlueIsTheColour 3 is still last with 9 pts.  Starting tomorrow, anywhere from 8-11 points per group (depending if a 3rd place team qualified that day) could be awarded as teams qualify for the Round of 16.  Again, the 57 who have GER making the Round of 16 will get those points tomorrow.

For an evening treat, ventured out to Whittier for the famous Arturo's Puffy Taco.  I still have not had a restaurant make the "puffy" tacos the same way Arturo does, and that is why it is special.  Also, their Strips Texanas is better than I remembered it.  I wore my authentic 2022 home BEL jersey and like how the red jumps out against the gold in the crest.

I Can't Dive (6/21)

Yeah, obstruction

CERRITOS, CA - D2-Netherlands thought they had a breakthrough goal against D4-France in the 69' but a defender next to FRA's GK was flagged for offsides and upheld by VAR.  Regardless if you thought the GK could dive and make the save (it was far to his left), just having a player in your peripheral vision is enough to hesitate and you can see the GK stutter-stepped instead of diving.   The game ended 0-0 which meant FRA still has not scored (their 1-0 win last game was via own goal) and it was the first Euro nil-nil draw since match #20 in 2021 (ENGvSCO) and ended a streak of 50 matches with at least one goal.  

With 4 points, both teams will be comfortably in but the draw also eliminated D1-Poland, who lost to D3-Austria 3-1 and can't finish in the top 3 (first tiebreaker is head-to-head which POL would lose to AUT even if POL beat FRA 20-0 in the next game).  

E2-Slovakia was continuing their dream run holding a 1-0 second half lead but E4-Ukraine roared back with two goals to stay alive.  More pressure on E1-Belgium tomorrow as the other three teams in Group E have 3 points already.

$5.95 for a single scoop

In two of the most split picks, 23 got AUT (16 had POL and 19 had a tie) and 18 got UKR (17 had SVK and 23 tie) while 14 got the NEDvFRA draw.  Only Toast was able to go 3-0 today and pulls into a tie with 21goals for 1st with 15 points.  18 went 0-3 with Cool Guy joining BlueIsTheColour 3 in last with 8 pts.  Just a reminder, points for teams qualifying (e.g., GER and ESP) won't be awarded until the final group match is played (e.g., you will get the 3 points for GER making the Round of 16 after Sunday's matches).  

We get a lot of transplants into my area and recently we got Sorry, Not Sorry Creamery that is based in Vegas.  The ice cream is very rich which means very good. Their popular flavor is Ube Honeycomb (I do not understand the fascination with ube, except for the bluish color) but I got Mint chocolate chunk.  Yum.  I wore my authentic 2016 home Slovakia jersey that has the anthem lyrics on the inside collar.  Then I went to Raising Canes for the kids, which is based out of Baton Rouge and opened last year in Cerritos.

2021 Rematches (6/20)

It wasn't your fault

HOME, CA - We had a couple of Euro 2021 semifinal rematches as B3-Italy took on B1-Spain (ITA won 4-2 on PKs) and C4-England took on C2-Denmark (ENG won 2-1 in extra time).  ESP got revenge winning 1-0 though they could not get anything past the ITA GK and needed an own goal to win.  Gianluigi Donnarumma got his hand on everything making 8 saves on 8 ESP shots on goal, but it was one cross that he got a fingertip to that led to the own goal.  In fact, the ball deflected twice so you can hardly blame the defender on that one.  ESP becomes the second team to clinch a spot in the Round of 16.

ENG scored early again in the 16' and then couldn't generate anything (maybe: score in the 2nd half - in the past 3 Euro matches they scored in the 3' in the Euro Final and didn't have a shot on goal the rest of the match, scored in the 13' against C3-Serbia and had just 5 shots total) as DEN got a very long golazo strike (the 13th goal from outside the box this tourney) in the first half to salvage a 1-1 draw.  If you look at the highlights, almost every DEN opportunity started with ENG with the ball in the own half and giving it up.  DEN outshot ENG 16-11 and 7-4 on shots on goal.  The English fans and media are going crazy over the poor decisions by coach Gareth Southgate.  Yeah, well we have Gregg Berhalter (USA) so sushhh.  4 points has gotten every team in the Round of 16 since the Euros expanded to 24 teams in 2016 so ENG will be okay.

In the morning game, C1-Slovenia got a 90'+5 goal off a corner kick to tie SRB, 1-1.  The game-tying goal at 94:58 supplants yesterday's record late-goal equalizer by B4-Albania (94:23).  Both teams are still alive.

Growing bulb

8 got the SVN-SRB tie, 17 the DEN-ENG tie, and 35 the ESP win.  NastyNate was the only one to go 3-0 and moved from a tie for 47th to a tie for 12th (11 pts).  21goals and Disabling Below Jobs are tied for 1st with 13 pts.  Six went 0-3 and BlueIsTheColour 3 remains last with 7 pts.

Still recovering at home so checked out my front yard.  It still freaks me out seeing the bulb grow from the middle of the Sago Palm plant (not a tree or palm apparently).  Yuck.  I wore my authentic 2020 home Spain jersey which has a nice cross pattern on it.

Oh, and Copa America started today.  In the states.  With 6 non-CONMEBOL teams.  But, hey, Messi (Argentina won 2-0 over Canada in Atlanta with Messi getting one assist).

Fit to be Tied (6/19)

SUI GK had it!

HOME, CA - #66 B4-Albania struck first against #10 B2-Croatia but persistence prevailed as CRO peppered ALB with 20 shots forcing an own goal in 76' to take a 2-1 lead.  But sub Klaus Gjasula, who gave up the own goal, scored in stoppage time to salvage a tie for ALB, 2-2.  So technically, Gjasula is the first person to score twice in a match this tournament.  A2-Scotland scored on an own goal on a A4-Swiss deflection and for a while, SCO had 2 goals on zero shots on goal in the tournament.  But late in the second half, UEFA changed it to a goal (because the shot was on target).  SUI's Xherdan Shaqiri's (of MLS fame ;-) golazo strike tied it in the 26' and the score ended 1-1. Like E1-Belgium, SUI had two goals taken away via VAR in the 22' and 45'+2.

A1-Germany became the first team to clinch a Round of 16 spot with a 2-0 win over A3-Hungary.  ALB and CRO didn't do themselves any favors with the tie as each has 1 point after 2 games.  Both would need a win against B1-Spain or B3-Italy to have a chance.

Lots of leaves, little fruit

So after the corrections to the standings, 8 are tied for first with 11 points.  BlueIsTheColour 3 is still last with 6 pts.  No one picked the ALBvCRO tie, 15 picked the tie between SCOvSUI, and 53 picked GER.  Eleven went 2-1 while Ronaldo Pulls a Messi went 0-3.

So I was supposed to go the LA Galaxy match vs NYC but wasn't feeling well so wore my 1998 home Croatia jersey outside and sad to find lots of leaves and flowers but very little fruit thus far.  All the rain we've had in LA hopefully just delayed things a bit.  But hoping for good poms and plums next month.

Add 1, affect 57

That's more like it

We have new leaders!  Well, in my zeal to move BigRedMessi's info to the top of my list in Excel as our first entry, the cut & paste affected the other 57 entries in the formulas in about 6 different sheets I track.  I missed the temp standing one where the first entry was the second entry info, the 2nd was the 3rd, etc.  Also, for some reason I'm reading horizontal data as vertical so copy & paste doesn't change the formulas relative to cell correctly.  So that's been corrected.

I apologize for causing you a little stress if you saw you only had 7 points but really had 9.  If there are any more corrections, please let me know.  Thanks!

Issue # 2.1.1 "Just Win Baby" (After Matchday 1)

 Archive

Tuesday, June 18, 2024 [Corrected 6/19 for standings update]

11 TEAMS PICK UP 3 POINTS; BELGIUM ONLY DISAPPOINTMENT
Our 4th Euro pool has record 58 entries; 5 tied for 1st

WATTS NEIGHBORHOOD, LOS ANGELES, CA (smt)- The first round of matches are complete and 11 of the 12 ended up with a winner.  Of the 11 winners, only Group E produced upsets with E2-Slovakia, ranked #48 edging #3 E1-Belgium 1-0 and #46 E3-Romania routing world darling #22 E4-Ukraine, 3-0.  The only other surprise was the one tie with #57 C1-Slovenia getting a 77' goal to tie #21 C2-Denmark 1-1.  Some favorites to win it all showed their prowess with A1-Germany winning 5-1 and B1-Spain winning 3-0 while others struggled to hold onto 1-0 victories (C4-England and D4-France, who didn't even score (own goal)).  Defending champ B3-Italy, D2-Netherlands, and F3-Portugal all had to rally from 1-0 deficits to win 2-1.  A4-Switzerland and F1-Turkey used stoppage time goals to make it a comfortable 3-1 win vs 2-1. 

Empty Netter (6/18)

Just a bit offside

WATTS TOWER, LOS ANGELES, CA - Like in the E1-Belgium match, the favorite had a late goal taken away via VAR on the slightest of infractions (shoulder in 87'), but unlike BEL, F3-Portugal still recovered to score the game-winner in stoppage time to finish the comeback, 2-1, over F4-Czechia (was Czech Republic, well it's still Czech Rep but the government prefers Czechia so FIFA/UEFA obliged).  The match featured the first 0-0 halftime score line, first game-winner in stoppage time (90'+2), a record sixth Euros appearance by POR's Ronaldo, and the oldest player to play in the Euros (POR's Pepe).  POR and Ronaldo created some havoc in the box with their first goal coming on an own goal deflection and CZE's GK making 7 saves.  

This was the F1-Turkey (or now Türkiye) we expected in 2021.  TUR got off to a strong start (would've been stronger but they had a goal taken away by a toe offside in the 27') beating F2-Georgia, 3-1, with the last goal an empty netter as it was in the 7th minute of stoppage time and the GEO GK was in the attack.  The worst-ranked team (#75), GEO felt trying for a tie against TUR was worth a -2 goal differential with POR up next.  GEO managed 15 shots with one going off the left post, one off the crossbar, and one saved going off the right post.

So this is Watts Towers

53 picked TUR and 56 picked POR.  51 got both correct while the other 7 went 1-1.  5 are tied for first with 10 points with 24 tied for 6th with 9 pts.  BlueIsTheColour 3 is last with 5 pts.

All these years, I never stopped by Watts Towers because, it's in Watts.  But after sitting is traffic for so long, I realized I never got a picture and so I pulled off and it's a nice park.  I wore my 2023 Al Nassr Ronaldo home jersey that I picked up in Porto, Portugal last year.  

Romania and Slovakia? (6/17)

Avoid the ball

GONZAGA UNIVERSITY, SPOKANE, WA - Running with a bouncing ball is dangerous to your health as E1-Belgium's Romelu Lukaku's game-tying goal in the 86' was taken away via VAR as during the run-up, a bouncing ball clipped a BEL's hand.  Lukaku also had another goal taken away via VAR as he was slightly offsides.  After faltering in the group stage in the 2022 World Cup, BEL continues its downfall from the Golden Generation.  E2-Slovakia, ranked #48, held on to a 1-0 win in the biggest upset in terms of ranking (delta of 45, with BEL #3) but played well having more corners (7-5) and getting 10 shots, 4 of them on goal.  

The feel-good story of E4-Ukraine turned nightmare as E3-Romania blasted them 3-0.  #46 ROU trailed in nearly every statistical category except shots on goal (5-2 - somehow, UEFA has UKR with 2 shots on goal but ROU with 3 saves).

D4-France won 1-0 but didn't score (it was an own goal by D3-Austria), Kylian Mbappe exited with a broken nose, and Mbappe exited with a yellow card (so weird he just sat back onto the field to get the card).  With the harsh rule of just TWO yellows over five matches to get an automatic one-match suspension, create ideas were thrown of having Mbappe come in late (he apparently will miss the D2-Netherlands match), get a dumb yellow, and sit out the 3rd match against D1-Poland to reset his yellow card count.  Soccer is the only sport that can deprive its stars from its fans by suspensions in a previous game (although the NBA does have to rule if a bench players steps onto a court during an altercation, he will be suspended one game).

Toast (7th-Tied, 7 pts) was the only one to pick SVK but unfortunately didn't pick FRA (52 did) which left 11 entries getting 2 of 3 games correct.  Five went 0-3.  11 picked ROU.   6 are tied for first with 8 points (out of 10 matches) and BlueIsTheColour 3 is last with 3 pts.

Spokane is a neat city in that three major universities have campuses there and today walked to Gonzaga (with their Bulldog statue) and Washington St's Spokane campus (graduate school) (with their Cougar statue).  And I just had two days of meetings at Eastern Washington U.'s new Catalyst Center.  I wore my 2016 home Austria jersey and actually visited Vienna in 2017.

Deflections (6/16)

SPOKANE FALLS, SPOKANE, WA - Two slight deflections gave D2-Netherlands the win (2-1) over D1-Poland and C1-Slovenia to salvage a tie (1-1) with C2-Denmark.  Both shots saw the GK go one way and the ball another.  I'm glad they didn't give own goals (like Opta used to do) for this when it was more strict.  Each of the three matches today also featured deflections with great reaction saves as well.

NED became the second team to win after giving up the first goal and SVNvDEN was our first tie and first "upset" of the tournament with SVN ranked #57 vs DEN's #21.  NED had six saves as POL fired 6 shots on goal (of their 11 total shots).

C4-England scored early on a great header but struggled in a 1-0 win over C3-Serbia, who became just the second team to fail to score (B2-Croatia) after 7 matches.

53 picked NED, 50 ENG, and 8 the SVN-DEN tie.  Four entries went 3-0 which leaves Disabling Below Jobs and I Say Old Chap tied for first with a perfect 7 points.   9 went 1-2 with five tied for last with 3 points. 

Was able to take a walk to Riverfront Park to take the SkyRide over Spokane Falls and learned about Expo 1974 (Spokane the smallest city to host an Expo) as this summer is the 50th anniversary of that event.  Of course, the falls is just over a dam but still pretty loud and cool.  I wore my 2013 home ENG jersey commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Football Association.

23 seconds (6/15)

A step too far

EASTERN WASHINGTON U. CATALYST BUILDING, SPOKANE, WA - B4-Albania, ranked #66, capitalized on a poor throw in by B3-Italy to score 23 seconds into a match (a Euro record) but ITA quickly scored twice in the next 16 minutes to rally for a 2-1 win.  

A different B1-Spain showed up, yielding possession to B2-Croaita (54-46%), the first time in a competitive match ESP did not have possession advantage since Euro 2008 final (vs GER, an incredible 136 straight games), yet easily won 3-0 over #10 B2-Croatia.  ESP had 5 saves and were outshot 16-11.  They didn't die 1000 passes being out passed 528-455.  CRO didn't help by missing a penalty kick and having their rebound goal taken away due to encroachment into the box before the PK was taken.

On fubo, which no one has, A4-Switzerland beat A3-Hungary 3-1.  Four more minor games will be on fubo which on the replays, didn't show the score or time.  Very odd.  

Actually thunderstorms later

35 picked SUI, 43 ESP, and all 58 picked ITA.  30 entries went 3-0 while 7 went 1-2.  30 are tied for first with 4 points while nine are tied for last with 2 pts.  Only three other games were picked by all 58 - CRO over ALB, C4-England over C1-Slovenia, and F3-Portugal over F2-Georgia

I do have a balcony and an okay view of the Spokane River blocked by some trees.  An amazing area though were within walking distance are campuses of Gonzaga, Washington State U. (based in Pulman), and Eastern Washington U. (based in Cheney), where we had our meeting at the new Catalyst Building.  I wore my 2010 Italy goalkeeper (Buffon) jersey, which ITA has already changed their logo twice since then.